*Highly recommend watching the video to see how beautiful Victoria Park is and there is a bonus clip of a cute little squirrel I encountered during the filming! 🐿️

Hi friends! Welcome back to my channel. I can’t believe it has been two years since I moved to London, and it’s been a love-hate relationship. Some of my friends are considering moving here now as well, so I thought I’d do a two-year review. 🤓

A Little Bit of Context

When I finished my Master’s two years ago, I was torn between going back to Singapore or staying in London. In the end, in addition to 20 other applications in Singapore, I applied to only one job in London. And…London offered me first! 👏🏻 So I took that as a sign and flew here, making the UK the fifth country I’ve lived in. And here we are, two years later, doing a review of my London experience.

If you’ve lived in London, feel free to share your perspective as well—sharing is caring!

The Positives

Traveling

One of my favourite things about London is the travel opportunities. ✈️ With four airports here and the proximity to Europe, it’s very easy to travel across the continent. And it has been amazing.

Initially, I thought I would come here for two years, then maybe move to New York, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Europe is so diverse, and there are so many places I want to visit—two years is definitely not enough. ✋

I did travel a little within the UK as well, but it’s actually not much cheaper than going abroad, so I haven’t done a lot. But I do really like the countryside and national parks. Hopefully, next year, I’ll get to visit Scotland.

The Weather

People talk about the weather here a lot, and I used to think it was a stereotype. But it’s not, and I found myself doing the same after moving here for probably just two months. 😂

Now that it’s getting colder, you hear a lot of this in the office: “Oh, it’s freezing today, 🥶” or “It’s so grim; it’s getting so dark.” Then, when it’s sunny in the summer for 10 days (kidding!), people will say, “Ah, such a nice day; ☀️ so lovely; it’s a shame we’re working inside. Let’s go to the park.”

To me, it actually feels like the same weather 80% of the time—cloudy and a little grey. But many people (local or foreigner) actually get depressed by it. 🥲

I guess only those of us who grew up in warmer parts of Asia truly embrace this weather. It’s been two years, and I still find the cold refreshing. And you don’t know how happy I am that when I go out for the whole day, I don’t need to apply any sunblock! ☂️ The UV is very low most of the time.

Drinking Culture

While it’s hard to get people to come out in the colder days, they’re usually up for a pint 🍺. No matter how the weather changes, the pub is always there!

Compared to what I’m used to, people drink a lot here. I still remember when I first moved here and started working, my colleagues would invite me out for drinks after work. I thought it was super nice; I was like, “Oh, they’re so welcoming!” But very soon, I was like, “Again? Didn’t we just drink yesterday?” 😮

People are nice, though, and I appreciate the invite. 😊 Now, I think I’m used to it. Sometimes I just join, and if I don’t feel like drinking, I might just get a soda water—you do you, and I do me with my water.

Friendship and Social Life

Maybe that links to the friendship part because I think some people worry about making friends here. I won’t lie; I did feel slightly lonely at the beginning because a lot of my closer friends didn’t come to London. But London’s diversity is amazing. You have literally all kinds of people here, and they’re generally quite welcoming. Pretty soon, I actually reached a stage where I needed to say no to invites because I needed to focus on my inner peace. 🧘

One tip I have about making friends is to form groups—it’s more stable because people take turns organising stuff.

Activities in London

There are so many things to do here!

Art

The first thing is art. I love the art scene in London, especially compared to Singapore. There are so many museums and galleries, and there are also a lot of theatres with musicals and plays—so many talented actors here. I love them. 😍

Exercise

Another big part of my day-to-day life is exercise. I live in Shoreditch, and there are a lot of nice studios around me, whether it’s gyms or yoga. I also play squash and badminton regularly with friends, so I think people here are generally quite active. 🏃

There are other things to do like Winter Wonderland around Christmas, and I just went to a haunted house theme park. I can’t remember the name now, but yeah, there are a lot of things to do. Like I said, I actually need to say no to things sometimes because “me time” is important—it’s nice to slow down in a big city. 🪷

Diversity and Cuisine

We talked about the diversity in London, but I just want to reiterate that I feel London is super international. Singapore and New York are very international as well, but I could be wrong—my personal opinion is that London feels more diverse. As a result, you get all kinds of cuisines here, and they’re pretty authentic. The only complaint I’ve heard is that there’s no good Mexican food in London…just sharing what I heard! 👀

Safety

Some of my friends asked me about safety, and I actually feel London is pretty safe. I feel comfortable walking alone at night as long as it’s a well-lit area in Zone 1. Most of my female friends say the same as well. 👍🏻

I’m not sure why there’s a stereotype about people being stabbed in London. 😱 One explanation I’ve heard is that it does happen, but usually between gang fights, so if you’re not part of a gang, it shouldn’t involve you.

The only issue I have with London safety is those bikers who try to grab your phone, so just hold your phone tight! 📱

The Big Pain: Money

When I just moved to London, my friends asked me how I found it, and I told them, “Everything’s great except money.” And two years later, it’s still the same, but now I have a better understanding and a more detailed explanation. 😤

Firstly, the income: coincidentally, when I received my offer from my current company in London, I also received an offer from the same company in Singapore at the same level, and the package was the same after currency conversion. That surprised me because I thought London would pay more. But that’s not the best part—London doesn’t pay more, and they charge more tax, like 20-30% more. I’m literally getting a pay cut to move to London. 💸

The cost of living here is high. I strongly believe those rankings putting Singapore as the most expensive city weigh car ownership too much. Sure, cars are expensive in Singapore, but most other things in London are more expensive. The only things that are cheaper here are probably groceries and alcohol (and I don’t like drinking). 🍸

I might or might not make a video about how I use Excel to forecast and plan my personal finance, but the conclusion is – now that I’ve moved to London, if I stay here long term, it’s going to delay the time I hit my retirement goal by ten years. That’s the difference. 😭

Not All About Money

However, I guess that reflects the supply and demand of the market.

London’s such a special place, one where people from all over the world come to live, work, and experience life. Hence people, including myself, are willing to pay a premium to be here. 🥹

I feel fortunate to be able to afford my lifestyle here with just my salary. I know I could probably optimise my career or finances more elsewhere, but I made that choice, and I do appreciate all the experiences I’m gaining here.

Special thanks to my younger self for making the leap! ❤️

In Conclusion

So, that’s everything that came to mind! Let me know if you have any questions about things I didn’t cover, and hopefully, it was helpful.

Thanks for reading, and maybe I’ll see you in my next video. Let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to visit my YouTube channel and give my video a like! 😬